Section 508 of the amended Rehabilitation Act of 1998 extends to web-based software applications the same legal guarantees of access that all physical public amenities must provide. The law now requires that new government web sites, and some existing web sites, make their content and functionality available to people with motor, visual or auditory disabilities.
Persons with auditory disabilities are typically able to use web sites. The toolbars and menus used to navigate web sites are navigable using a pointing device, sometimes referred to as a mouse, without the need for the user to hear auditory signals. Furthermore, special devices are available for those with motor disabilities that can be used to perform the functionality of a pointing device. However, enabling a user interface to be usable by the visually disabled presents special challenges, as pointing devices need visual interaction to operate.
One solution to enable a visually disabled person to use a web site is to use screen reader software to read the text of the web page. Screen reader software can detect textual messages presented by a user interface and read those messages to the user in a configurable voice. The visually disabled person can then hear audible text describing the web page and use a special device, such as a Braille keyboard, to enter the information needed to navigate the user interface.
However, most information used to navigate a web site does not appear as text on the web page. With the predominance of graphical user interfaces and the increasing sophistication of web-based user interfaces, text-based user interfaces are being replaced by user interfaces including icons, buttons, and other sophisticated sets of image-based controls such as toolbars. Screen readers cannot read, for example, tool tips or icon data.
What is needed is a graphical user interface that can be navigated by a person with visual disabilities.